The federal government is suing Davis Typewriter Company, an office supply and
furniture store in Worthington, saying it failed to fix "a
sexually hostile work environment" after a manager was caught videotaping another employee.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission alleged Tuesday that operations manager Stanley Alms manipulated the generic rotation of
the store's security cameras to follow and record the body and breasts of Tracey Kelley.

Nicholas Pladson, an attorney for the EEOC, said Kelley was tipped off by someone in the IT department. Pladson plans to back up the claim by showing part of an eight-hour video that Kelley gave him.

According to the lawsuit, Kelley
brought the video to the attention of her supervisors, including
company president Larry Davis, who "failed and refused" to stop
the harassment.

Davis twice hung up on City Pages,
explaining on the second attempt to get his side of the story, "I
don't have anything to say to you."

Alms politely declined to speak about the allegations but answered questions about what he does for the company.

"I oversee the
computers," he said. "I oversee the secretaries. I oversee the delivery guys."

Pladson was unsure how the store computer system was manipulated but said it's obvious while watching the video that somebody was directing it.

Kelley was in charge of filling purchasing orders for the company and its clients, and quit in July 2010, about four months after
starting work there.

Pladson declined to speak about the company's response to Kelley's claim, saying only that it was "so insufficient" Kelley had no other recourse but to leave.

The EEOC is asking that the store "make
Tracey Kelley whole" by paying up for the time out of work and the
emotional distress it allegedly caused her.

Settlement talks, which preceded the complaint, had failed.

Pladson would not confirm or deny whether anyone else had ever filed a harassment complaint against the company.